Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan reiterated the inclusion of necessary safety features in all DPWH infrastructure projects nationwide.
In a memorandum, Bonoan echoed Department Order No. 164, series of 2016 which mandates DPWH Regional, District Engineering Offices, and Unified Project Management Office Clusters to include all safety design features or elements in all projects.
According to the public works chief, safety design features must always be included in all national roads, bridges, and other infrastructure projects being implemented by DPWH rather than treated as a separate project with different funding later on.
“Every road project needs to meet the criteria of International Roughness Index (IRI), and have necessary drainage facilities, shoulders, or slope protection works among others.”
“Every road project needs to meet the criteria of the International Roughness Index (IRI), and have necessary drainage facilities, shoulders, or slope protection works among others,” the public works head said.
“These features will be included in our projects as early as their planning stages to guarantee our projects are safe for public use.”
“These features will be included in our projects as early as their planning stages to guarantee our projects are safe for public use,” he added.
Under DO No. 164, implementing offices are required to ensure that any findings in a road safety audit, carried out before or during design, are addressed as part of the road or bridge project itself, and not treated as a separate project later with different funding.
Implementing offices are also mandated to properly plan and work with the DPWH Planning Service (PS) to ensure sufficient road safety funds are included as part of the proposed projects during the annual budget preparation, as well as propose appropriate safety intervention or feature in the Program of Works (POW) and Detailed Engineering Design (DED) of proposed project.
